Staten Island Advance/Bill LyonsAl Paturzo has been a staple on Susan Wagner's football sidelines.

Suppose you were coaching a high school JV team — for free — for seven years and the varsity coach retired. You’d expect to become the varsity coach, right?

Well, that’s not what happened to Bob Mathews when Lou Trella, a Port Richmond High School fixture, retired after the 1967 season.

During that time, coaching positions belonged to the physical education department, and Nick Bilotti, who had breathed life into the Staten Island Academy basketball program before coming to Port Richmond, succeeded Trella.

Most of us would simply have packed it in at that point, right?

Not Bob Mathews, who in his first decade as a teacher had become an integral part of the school’s fabric and would continue as Mr. Port Richmond for another two decades — and then begin an active quarter-century with the school’s alumni association.

“Matty” as he is known to his friends not only continued coaching the JV but also embarked on an unheard of cause in Island public high schools at that time.

He went to work as the chairman of the drive to start — restart, really — football at Port Richmond.

The success in raising the funds and arousing interest in the sport didn’t just pave the way for football to return to Port Richmond after a 36-year absence.

It also demonstrated starting a football program in a public high school was both possible and desirable.

Within four years, football programs would be added at Tottenville and Susan Wagner where Joe Ryan fathered the first of two high school teams. (St. Joseph by-the-Sea was the other high school program started by Joe.)

Which to a great extent explains why Matty will be one of four honorees on Oct. 22 at the eighth annual Joe Ryan Memorial Awards Dinner at the Old Bermuda Inn.

The Korean War veteran will be joined by another veteran of our “Forgotten War”, Vinny Bilotti, who’s been involved in Island sports for more than a half-century; Al Paturzo, Ryan’s long-time assistant and then successor at Susan Wagner; and the College of Staten Island’s winningest basketball coach, Tony Petosa.

Bilotti is likely the least known of the honorees.

When does anyone notice an umpire, a basketball official or a football referee except when he “blows” a call?

Vinny was involved in sports as a player — he was a member of the first basketball team at Staten Island Community College which would later become part of CSI — and as a coach in CYO baseball and basketball leagues and the now-deceased American Legion baseball league.

But it was in officiating where the retired NYC firefighter truly made his mark beginning more than four decades ago when officials’ organizations often lacked organization.

The past president of PSAL football officials and the Staten Island Chapter of the International Association of Basketball Officials, Bilotti is still active as the assignor for PSAL baseball umpires and an evaluator for PSAL football officials.Among the former NYC firefighter’s most notable games as an official were as referee for the 1980 Metro Bowl game between Susan Wagner and Monsignor Farrell and volunteering to work the first Fred Fugazzi Memorial Football Game.

Paturzo, whose football coaching career is at 42 years and counting, started as an assistant JV coach in Tottenville’s just-born program in 1969. In 1975, he became an assistant to Joe Ryan at Susan Wagner and he’s been there ever since.

After replacing Ryan as head coach in 1984, his teams won 14 Island PSAL championships and six city PSAL titles.

His commitment has not gone unnoticed. Twenty years ago, the Advance honored Al as its Sportsman of the Year and in 2005, he was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame.

As a player, Petosa was an integral part of three CSI City University of New York Conference championship teams, setting school records for career scoring (1,684 points) and rebounding (982). The latter is still a Dolphin record.After graduation, Tony became an assistant coach while beginning a career as a public high school teacher.

Three years later, CSI lost its third coach in six years — which says something about the support of the school administration.

Tony, after some hesitation, agreed to become head coach. Three hundred twenty-four career wins, three CUNY championships, four NCAA tourney bids and nine ECAC tournaments later, he’s still there.

But it was in 2001 that the laid-back Petosa’s character became obvious.

Three former CSI players — Terrance Aiken and firefighters Tom Hannafin and Scott Davidson — perished in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11.

An obviously distraught Petosa was determined to honor the three and to preserve their memory.

Four months later, in January, CSI had a Tribute to Heroes and retired their jerseys, and the following year, Petosa and the athletic department had the inaugural Tournament of Heroes Tournament in their memory.

The tourney will continue at least for as long as Petosa is the CSI coach. His determination will see to that.

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NOTES: Proceeds from the annual Ryan dinner and the dinner journal are donated to Staten Island high school sports programs. To date, the affair has enabled the committee to donate $51,500.

Tickets are priced at $55 for the affair which begins at 7:30 p.m. with a cocktail hour.

Further information about tickets or journal ads, the major source of revenue, may be obtained by contacting Mike Lapatina (718-984-3523) or Bob Ryan (718-984-7718).